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BAY CITY — Not surprising to those who follow these things, GLIAC football coaches selected the order in their preseason poll just about the same as the teams finished last season.

Northern Michigan University was selected fifth with 14 voting points after the Wildcats finished in a tie for fifth place last season at 2-5. NMU was also 4-7 overall.

Polling took place at the GLIAC Football Media Day held Monday at the Wayne State University Fieldhouse in Detroit.

Head football coach Kyle Nystrom addresses the Wildcats at the conclusion of the Northern Michigan University intrasquad spring scrimmage held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on April 2. (Journal file photo by Travis Nelson)

Defending national champion Ferris State, which rolled to 7-0 conference and 14-0 overall records last season, was also picked as the preseason favorite this fall, though it wasn’t quite unanimous.

That was despite Ferris, a preseason national No. 1 by Lindy’s Sports, having actually won 38 consecutive regular season games and 31 straight in the GLIAC, compiling a 41-2 record over the past three seasons.

GLIAC coaches vote for all teams except their own in the preseason poll, meaning a unanimous choice would give one first-place vote to another team. But Ferris State missed out on two first-place votes, which went to the No. 2 pick — and of course last year’s runner-up — Grand Valley State. The Lakers were 10-2 overall and 6-1 in the league.

Last year’s third-place team, Michigan Tech, also made third in the poll after compiling records of 6-4 and 5-2. Likewise, 2021 fourth-place Saginaw Valley State (7-4, 4-3) was also fourth in the preseason.

Finally, Wayne State was chosen sixth and Davenport seventh as both those teams tied NMU for fifth last year with 2-5 league records. Overall, Davenport was 3-8 and WSU 2-9.

Northern Michigan University punter John Kwiecinski kicks the ball in the third quarter of game played in October 2019 in the Superior Dome in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Ferris received 35 voting points as 36 was the most possible. GVSU had 32, MTU 24, SVSU 22, Northern 14, Wayne State 12 and Davenport 8.

Northwood, which finished last in the conference a year ago at 1-9 and 0-7, has left the GLIAC for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

The GMAC, founded in 2011, is made up of a dozen private NCAA Division II schools as full-time members, including past GLIAC members Hillsdale, Ashland, Findlay, Lake Erie, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Tiffin and Walsh. Besides Northwood in the central Lower Peninsula and Hillsdale in the far southern Lower Peninsula, those other ex-GLIAC schools are all located in Ohio.

Last season, the Wildcats defeated their fellow fifth-place teams, Wayne State and Davenport, along with Northwood and nonconference foe McKendree. But the Davenport win was actually a nonconference game as the Panthers prevailed later in the season when their game counted in the GLIAC.

This fall, NMU opens both its season and its home slate of games under fifth-year head coach Kyle Nystrom against McKendree at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1, in the Superior Dome.

The Wildcats begin with four nonconference games, including a home game against NCAA Division III powerhouse Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Sept. 10 and another Superior Dome encounter against Post University on Sept. 24. All NMU home games after the Sept. 1 opener will be played on Saturday afternoons.

Six consecutive GLIAC games follow, including home games against Davenport on Oct. 8, Ferris State on Oct. 29 and SVSU on Nov. 5 — all Saturday afternoons.

Northern finishes its season with another nonconference game at former GLIAC member Lake Erie College on Nov. 12.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.